INFORMATIVE, INDEPENDENT AND BOLD

Bottomline: The presidential debate plays a vital role of informing the masses. The candidates are also able to persuade the public to have complete assurance in them.By Gaudencia Oduol

Kenyan history is advancing with by the inclusivity of the presidential debate. It is going to be held for the second time in Kenyan history, after its inception in 2013.

A total of 18 presidential aspirants will be on the hot seat. Being governed by a democratic government, the debate is prioritized as it lays a platform for the citizens to know their candidates and comprehend their manifestos. This therefore necessitated that Kenya media industry gurus led by Wachira Waruru, CEO Royal media, to give an overview of the debate.

It’s scheduled for dates 10th, 17th and 24th of July at Catholic University of East Africa. An event that will be kicking off at 7.30 P.M.

Even as Kenyans continue giving their views on the most preferred journalists to moderate the debate, NetworkOfNews Kenya, according to their statistics, ranked Hussein Muhammed top considering the fact that he’s been Kenya’s best interviewer in the recent past. It is believed that his inquisitive nature deserves credit.The presidential debate plays a vital role of informing the masses. The candidates are also able to persuade the public to have complete assurance in them. This is done in different ways. For instance, answering certain questions that affects the lives of the common ‘mwananchi’ wisely. President Uhuru Kenyatta, Raila Odinga and Abduba Dida will be facing a second bebate, having been participants in the one conducted on 2nd February 2013. President Uhuru’s party sets terms and conditions concerning the same, “To ensure a balanced and transport high-quality debates that Kenyans deserve and which are devoid of any pollution bias, rules and methods of engagement, including the dates must be agreed by candidates before making any announcement.” A good scope.

The eighteen candidates are battling with their inner beings, hoping that their ecstatic anticipation will be put into consideration. Our task as voters remain on the watch of the progress if events, and in no time, we shall know everyone of them.

Bottomline: The blues only need three points from the remaining three matches to claim their sixth top flight league title and their fifth in premier league.

By Ramadhan O. Sigomba

No matter how long the night is, the sun will eventually rise. The Barclays Premier League title dark horse is set for an end on Friday which will see Chelsea crowned Champions if they emerge victorious against West Bromwich Albion. This is the beginning of an end of the captivating league season that started in August last year. How will it end?

Westbrom will host Chelsea at The Hawthorns stadium on Friday night. The blues only need three points from the remaining three matches to claim their sixth top flight league title and their fifth in premier league. Just like it is difficult to stop a dog from feasting a piece of meat that’s within reach, the baggies will have a hard time in stopping Chelsea from winning that encounter. As it may, the possibilities of the unthinkable to happen should not be underestimated since West Bromwich Albion have a pleasant home record against Chelsea. Judging Chelsea’s play against Boro, they look forward to wrap it up sooner than later and sure this will be a thrilling match, a final for Chelsea.

Saturday will see Pep Guardiola’s men engage Leicester City at the Etihad stadium on early kickoff. Apart from fighting for the top four spot, Man City will be out to avenge their humiliating 4-2 defeat they suffered in December last year at the King Power stadium courtesy of Jamie Vardy’s heroics. Notably, Leicester City have now rediscovered their form after the sacking of Ranieri and they also want to finish in a better position considering that its only three points that separates them from the 15th position despite of being position nine.

Later on, Arsenal who limped to fifth position after securing a comfortable win against Southampton will visit Stoke City clinging into hopes of finishing in the top four. For their hopes to remain relevant, a win for the Gunners is neither a choice nor an option but an obligation as they pray for their rivals to lose points. Otherwise, it was their last time to play on Wednesday night until further notice.

The top four race will resume on Sunday when West Ham host Liverpool and Manchester United visit Tottenham. Nothing less than a struggle is expected from Liverpool as they have been throwing away points easily in recent fixtures. Top four finish is for them to lose. Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspurs will be having some blunt hopes of catching up with Chelsea as they welcome United. It is evident that Mourinho’s focus is not in the Premier league as witnessed in his first ever league defeat last weekend. He sees a half empty glass in Man Utd chances to qualify for champions league through the PL, therefore he has shifted his focus to winning the Europa cup. Tottenham are favorites to emerge victors in this fixture.

Bottomline: Ethnic diversity is not enemity. Choose life, not violence. Be wise. Let us vote in peace.By​ Joseph Turuthi

The first bullet is shot. The first scream rings through the somber atmosphere. . The first smoke is seen. Fire is razing down a village. You start celebrating. Your enemies are being brought down because they did not vote for “MTU WETU.”
After two days, life becomes hard. You cannot freely fetch water from the local river because you fear for your life. There is smoke and screams everywhere. Your livestock is stolen. You cannot feed your children well.

Life gets tougher. You cannot make calls because the government has cut out the network. It all becomes dark. You cannot watch the news. It is bad. You also start feeling the punch.

After four days, your attackers are repulsed. You hear that your enemies are advancing towards your village and they have received reinforcement. You hear that they are regrouping, and are heavily armed. You start fearing. You wonder why there was war in the first place anyway.

Your children are hungry. They are afraid. You are disillusioned.

Then your village is attacked. The same attacks are in other villages and shanty slums in cities. You collect your little belongings and run to the police station. Your daughter trips and breaks her leg. Then some old man tells your son has fallen in the war. You are not emotional. Not sad even. You seem to be out of touch with time, with the world.

An arrow goes through your left thigh as you run for safety. You just drag yourself along. You are still alive.

Reaching the police station, it is overcrowded. You have to share a tent. A leaking tent. The hygiene there is terrible. The sanitation does not befit a human being. Then you realize you are not with your daughter. You try to look for her. Then you find out that in the camp there is a Njoroge, an Atieno, a Bakari, a Wekesa, a Kipkorir, a Nyambane and others.

Your leg is rotting. You cannot find your darling daughter. People start dying, and you start wondering who is fighting who? Everyone is in the camp, and you have the same problem, you are fighting for scarce food, water and other resources.

Your daughter who broke her leg is unconscious. You are also getting thin. The old men in the next tent that had become your friend dies at night.

Then the police station is attacked. Hundreds die. The CNN come and cover your despair. Al Jazeera. Deutsche Welle. BBC. You escape, but you cannot run. Your leg is almost non functional. The attackers reach you. They wipe your entire remaining family out with machetes as you watch. And they leave you in agony. Hungry dogs will find you and lick your leg.

In hunger, dehydration, loss of blood and bacterial infection, you die.

Your “MTU WETU” shall be watching the news with his family or a hot diva of a campus girl in Bahamas or Seychelles. Then when all is done, when most of your people and the others you used to call enemies shall be dead or too weak to fight, he and his friends shall gather at Villa Rosa Kempinsky sipping very expensive wine and eating some delicacies you only heard of, laughing and sharing power, while your remains rot under some old tree in some remote forest.

Bottomline: It is upon us to realize that our thoughts are our greatest investment; something most of us have nary a clue of.

By Peggy Ochieng

Most of us have the tendency to fear raising our thoughts concerning issues that revolve around us. We consider our thoughts as being non-influential. We cage our thoughts for the fear of being judged and mocked. The fear tends to grow each and every day and in the process we may get into a series of depression. The fear tends to bar us from freely socializing with people. Hiding in the crowd becomes the order of the day for us. The limelight is our greatest foe at this moment.

As time flies, the fear in us builds up like an anthill and in the process making us lose focus on our goals. We are killing our own dreams. All that we desired to achieve has turned into trash. We walk heads down due to the guilt killing us.A guilt so fierce, intense and full of rage. A guilt strong enough to make us lose the grip.

It is upon us to realize that our thoughts are our greatest investment; something most of us have nary a clue of. The mind has it all. Positive thoughts; the strongest pillar that can ever exist in one’s life. It’s all about believing in ourselves. Being ready to speak up even when the whole world is throwing stones at us. Being ready to defend what we know and think is right. Being ready to fight battles, however much intense they are.

Enemies will always be there. Enemies of progress; ready to pin us to the ground.Despite their existence, we must realize that they are our greatest motivation in life. We work smart to disapprove our enemies. Our success, their greatest disappointment. We must be ready to rise above all odds and defend what we stand for. If you are not ready for this then you are probably one of the fellas hindering the world from moving forward. The choice is ours to make; raise your thoughts or forever keep mum. We should all realize that our thoughts can be our greatest pillar of strength; it is up to us to stay focused and bank on them.

Bottomline: Corruption begins the list as one of the inimical tragedies in the country. It’s absolute that we endorse and embrace it from birth.

By Joseph Turuthi

Kenyans have been going through hardships and gigantic menace as if the country was colonized by ignorance and anti-repertoire groups. They suffer as if they are in the 5th world country. The worry is to know when we be revamping our ways of living.

Corruption begins the list as one of the inimical tragedies in the country. It’s absolute that we endorse and embrace it from birth. It’s clear that Kenyans bribe their children as a form of positive reinforcement. This begins at oral stage and the children grow in life bribery all through the corrupt education system into the corrupt employment field. When will we transform our surmise by repugning those politicians who buy us at Ksh 100 for 5 years? This 100/5yrs is equivalent to 20 shillings/year. How cheap are Kenyans? Whom should we blame for the sauropodal heterogeneous problem?

In addition, it is true that tribalism is a mature viral disease whose window stage can’t be defined. Our voters elect their leaders in regards to their ethnocentric differences. We blindly elect our leaders without knowing that we are going to remain brats to them. The fallacious dealers lead us as they loot our resources. I have to repudiate the ignorant youths who elect their leaders before detecting and defining whether the dealing leaders would be looters as we become tools for looting. Let’s all use our repertoire to scold those leaders and repugn any atom of negative ethnicity in our country. My surmise can’t allow the garrulous leaders whose objective is to make Kenya a 5th world country. This is regardless of the myriad natural resources in the country that must change before dreaming of changing the entire society. Let’s make a stand as you know that no one tests the depth of a river with both feet. Remember, progress is impossible without change and those who can’t change their minds can’t change anything.

People can truly celebrate rigged elections! Take the case of Naivasha Constituency and Naivasha East Ward as an example. Even believers could join hands to tell a thief ‘Hongeraa!’ This was not what anyone could have expected. Justice is reduced by few cartels and thrown out of the window. Did they expect voters to be happy with that? Do they know they are killing unity of their people? Did they know they had drawn another line and widened the gap among the tribes like the general elections case? This was a typical Cancer in the society that will take Jesus to return for its cure.

It is a cry for Kenyans. May God Save and Bless Kenya. Whether with NASA or JUBILEE, we all belong to Kenya. If there is any suffering, then we will suffer together. We must change.